What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-28338?

CVE-2026-28338 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.8 (Medium). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

Which versions of Pmd are affected by CVE-2026-28338?

Organizations using PMD should be aware of notable risk from CVE-2026-28338, a cross-site scripting vulnerability rated CVSS 6.8.. A patch is available.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2026-28338?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2026-28338. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 0.0%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-28338?

Within 30 days: Identify affected systems and apply vendor patches as part of regular patch cycle. Verify Content-Security-Policy and output encoding.

Pmd CVE-2026-28338

MEDIUM

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79)

2026-02-27 security-advisories@github.com

GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

XSS Pmd

6.8

CVSS 3.1 · GitHub Advisory

Severity by source

GitHub Advisory PRIMARY

6.8 MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Primary rating from GitHub Advisory · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

None

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Generated

Mar 12, 2026 - 21:55 vuln.today

PoC Detected

Mar 03, 2026 - 18:43 vuln.today

Public exploit code

Patch released

Mar 03, 2026 - 18:43 nvd

Patch available

CVE Published

Feb 27, 2026 - 21:16 nvd

MEDIUM 6.8

Blast Radius

ecosystem impact

† from your stack dependencies † transitive graph · vuln.today resolves 4-path depth

49 maven packages depend on net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-core (42 direct, 7 indirect)

Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 7.22.0.

DescriptionGitHub Advisory

PMD is an extensible multilanguage static code analyzer. Prior to version 7.22.0, PMD's vbhtml and yahtml report formats insert rule violation messages into HTML output without escaping. When PMD analyzes untrusted source code containing crafted string literals, the generated HTML report contains executable JavaScript that runs when opened in a browser. Practical impact is limited because vbhtml and yahtml are legacy formats rarely used in practice. The default html format is properly escaped and not affected. Version 7.22.0 contains a fix for the issue.

AnalysisAI

Cross-site scripting (XSS) in PMD's legacy vbhtml and yahtml report formats allows arbitrary JavaScript execution when HTML reports are opened in a browser, triggered by analyzing malicious source code containing crafted string literals. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability affecting PMD versions prior to 7.22.0. The impact is limited since these legacy formats are rarely used and the default html format is properly escaped.

Technical ContextAI

Classified as CWE-79 (Cross-site Scripting (XSS)). Affects Pmd. PMD is an extensible multilanguage static code analyzer. Prior to version 7.22.0, PMD's vbhtml and yahtml report formats insert rule violation messages into HTML output without escaping. When PMD analyzes untrusted source code containing crafted string literals, the generated HTML report contains executable JavaScript that runs when opened in a browser. Practical impact is limited because vbhtml and yahtml are legacy formats rarely used in practice. The default html format is properly

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available — apply it immediately. Implement output encoding and Content Security Policy headers. Restrict network access to the affected service where possible.